Bautista played in 11 games for the Pirates in 2005. In 2006, his first full season with the Pirates, Bautista hit .235 with 16 home runs and 51 runs batted in (RBIs). The following season in 2007, he posted similar numbers in 142 games, finishing the season with a batting average of .254, 15 home runs and 63 RBIs. That same year, he became the starting third baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He took over for National League batting championFreddy Sanchez, who moved to second base.

Toronto Blue Jays

2008

Bautista was to be the Pirates' starting third baseman and backup outfielder in 2008. From June 14 to 24, he hit five home runs in a span of nine games against interleague opponents Baltimore, Chicago White Sox, Toronto, and the New York Yankees. However, he struggled offensively for most of the year, and after the 2008 trade deadline Bautista lost his starting job to the newly acquired Andy LaRoche. Bautista was optioned to Triple-A (Indianapolis Indians) on August 13. After performing well in Triple-A, on August 21, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later, which eventually was Robinzon Diaz.[5][4]

2009

Starting the 2009 season on the bench, managerCito Gaston assigned Bautista to back up third basemanScott Rolen and outfieldersAlex Ríos and Adam Lind. Bautista started the season with a .317 batting average, .404 on-base percentage and .463 slugging percentage in 49 plate appearances in April. However, his numbers fell off, as batted between .167 and .231 each month from May through August with two total home runs. At times he showed marked plate discipline; in the month of May he walked 14 times for a .403 OBP despite batting just .231.[6] Eventually, the Chicago White Sox claimed Rios off waivers, the Blue Jays assigned Lind to the role of designated hitter, and an injury to Marco Scutaro led to an increase in Bautista's playing time, making him the leadoff hitter.[7][8]

As the season drew to a close, the Blue Jays made changes to their coaching staff. One was to move first base coach Dwayne Murphy to replace the retiring Gene Tenace as hitting coach. Formerly a Blue Jays' minor league roving hitting instructor and hitting coach, Murphy had already spent nearly one year working with Bautista, teaching him to leverage his pull power by starting his swing with his now-familiar high leg kick.[4] In September, he finally broke through, hitting 10 home runs with 21 RBI, a .257 batting average and a .606 slugging percentage.[6] He hit 13 total HR in 2009 with 40 RBI, a batting average of .235, and 79 hits in 113 games. Originally considered to be a non-tender candidate, he re-signed with the Blue Jays on a one-year $2.4 million US contract for the 2010 season.[9][10]

2010

Bautista began the 2010 campaign as the starting right fielder and leadoff hitter. On May 17, Bautista was named AL Player of the Week after hitting .444 (8-for-18) with 20 total bases, four home runs, eight RBI, eight runs scored, a .565 OBP, and an MLB-best 1.111 SLG.[11] Bautista hit his 20th home run as part of a two-HR night against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 22, setting a new career high for a single season in just two months.[12]

For the month of July, Bautista batted .347, with 11 home runs, 29 RBI, and an AL-leading .765 slugging percentage, sharing American League Player of the Month honors with Twins outfielder Delmon Young.[15] Bautista was also named Blue Jays' Player of the Month, which is selected through voting by the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.[16][17] With his 12 home runs in May and 11 in July, Bautista became only the third Blue Jay player in franchise history to have two months with at least 10 home runs.[16]

Bautista was named co-winner of the American League Player of the Week award for the period ending August 1. Bautista hit .545 with five homers and 13 RBIs during that span.[18] On August 26, Bautista hit his 100th career home run against the Detroit Tigers.[19] Bautista was again named player of the week for the week ending August 29; in seven games that week, Bautista led the American League with a .500 batting average (10-for-20) and hit four home runs.[20] Bautista became the only Blue Jays player to ever win the award three times in one season. Bautista won AL Player of the Month for the month of August, in which he hit he led the AL in home runs (12), RBI (24), slugging percentage (.724) and total bases (72), while tying for the lead in extra-base hits (18). He finished tied for second with 23 runs and was third with 23 walks.[21] He also won the Honda Player of the Month Award, his second such award in as many months.[22]

On September 17, Bautista set the new Blue Jays single-season home run record with his 48th home run, breaking the record set by [23] On September 23, Bautista became the 26th player in Major League Baseball history to reach the 50-home run mark in a season.[24] His 52nd home run set a new MLB record for the largest single-season increase in home runs, eclipsing Davey Johnson's 38 home run increase from 1972 to 1973.[25] Bautista finished the 2010 season with an MLB-leading 54 home runs, the highest total since Alex Rodriguez hit 54 in 2007. Bautista won the AL Hank Aaron Award and a Silver Slugger Award for his offensive performance.[26][27] Bautista finished fourth in the AL MVP voting, behind Hamilton, Miguel Cabrera and Robinson Canó.[28] The Toronto chapter of the BBWAA named Bautista the Blue Jays' Most Valuable Player, the Blue Jays' Most Improved Player, and presented him the John Cerutti Award for displaying "goodwill, cooperation and character".[29]

2011

José Bautista looks at a strike during spring training 2011

Bautista agreed to a five-year contract extension worth US$64 million before the 2011 season.[30] Bautista began the season as the starting right fielder for the Blue Jays, with Edwin Encarnacion playing third base.[31] Bautista walked 28 times in the month of April, breaking a club record that was set when Carlos Delgado collected 26 bases on balls in April 2001. Bautista was unanimously selected for the Blue Jays' Player of the Month award, and was also named the AL Player of the Month for the month of April (his third such award in four months, dating back to the 2010 season).[32][33]

On May 15, Bautista hit three home runs against the Minnesota Twins, the first three-home run game of his career.[34] On May 28, in a home game against the Chicago White Sox, Bautista hit his 20th home run, a three-run shot to left field, becoming the first player to reach 20 home runs in 2011 as well as the fastest player to reach 20 home runs (44 games) in Blue Jays franchise history.[35] Bautista won the AL Player of the Month award for May, his fourth such award in five months. He also became the first player to have the highest number of home runs in a single month for five consecutive months since Jimmie Foxx did so from June 1933 to April 1934.[36] Bautista also won the Blue Jays' Player of the Month award for the second consecutive month.[37] On June 23, the Blue Jays shifted Bautista to third base and recalled Eric Thames to play the outfield.[38]

Bautista was selected for the 2011 MLB All-Star Game, receiving a record 7,454,753 votes.[39] At the time of his selection, he led the MLB in home runs (26), walks (70), OBP (.471), slugging percentage (.679), OPS (1.150), times on base (160) and was also in second place for runs scored (64), total bases (182) and extra base hits (41). Bautista became the first Blue Jay in history to lead the league in All-Star voting. He was also the first Blue Jay to be voted into the All-Star game as a starter since Carlos Delgado in 2003.[40] Bautista participated in the Home Run Derby; he hit 4 home runs and was eliminated in the first round.[41]

On August 5, with the debut of prospect Brett Lawrie to play third base, Bautista returned to right field. In a game against the Oakland Athletics on August 20, Bautista walked three times, which brought his season total to 102 walks in 113 games, the fastest a player reached 100 walks since Barry Bonds in 2007.[42] During a game against the New York Yankees on September 5, Bautista hit his 40th home run of the season, a solo homer off reliever Rafael Soriano. He became the 2nd player in Blue Jays history to have back to back 40 home run seasons.[43] Two games later on September 7, against the Boston Red Sox, Bautista stole home plate on a double steal in which rookie teammate Brett Lawrie took second base, becoming the first 40 home run hitter to steal home plate since Adam Dunn in 2004.[44] Bautista finished the season with 132 walks, the most in the AL since Jason Giambi walked 137 times in 2000, setting a new Blue Jays franchise record, previously held by Carlos Delgado (with 123 walks in 2000).[45]

Bautista led the major leagues in home runs for the second consecutive season with 43, becoming the first player to lead in consecutive years since Mark McGwire in 1998 and 1999. He also led the majors in slugging percentage (.608), OPS (1.056) and walks (132), and led the AL in intentional walks (24). He came in second in OBP (.447) behind Miguel Cabrera.[46] He was named the American League winner of the Hank Aaron Award for the second consecutive season,[47] becoming just the third player in the award's history, after Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds, to win the award in back-to-back years. Bautista was awarded his second consecutive Silver Slugger Award.[48]

2012

Bautista with the Toronto Blue Jays, June 30, 2012

On January 30, Bautista was announced as the cover athlete for the Canadian edition of MLB 12: The Show.[49] In an interleague game against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 19, Bautista hit the second of three straight solo home runs by the Blue Jays, between Colby Rasmus and Edwin Encarnacion, the first time since 2005 that the Jays went back-to-back-to-back with home runs.[50] Bautista also took over the MLB lead in home runs for 2012, hitting his 25th on June 27 against the Boston Red Sox, which broke the Blue Jays club record for home runs in a month, with 13. He went on to finish the month with 14 home runs, one short of the American League record for June.

Bautista was voted an American League starter in the MLB All-Star Game for a second consecutive year. It was his third overall selection and second as a starter.[51] Hamilton surpassed Bautista's record vote total of the prior year.[51] On July 2, Bautista was named American League Player of the Month for June. It was his fifth time receiving the honor in his career. He batted .274 with 14 home runs and 30 RBI in the month of June. His 14 home runs in June set a new Blue Jays franchise record for home runs in a month.[52] Bautista competed in the 2012 Home Run Derby. At the time of his selection, Bautista led all major league players with 26 home runs.[53] Bautista finished second to Prince Fielder.[54]

Bautista was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 17 with inflammation in his wrist.[55] He had started in all previous 90 games, and the Blue Jays called up prospect Anthony Gose to take his place after the game.[55] Bautista was activated on August 24, but returned to the disabled list on August 26 after he re-aggravated the injury to his left wrist. On August 28, the Jays announced that he would undergo season-ending surgery on the wrist.[56][57] In 2012, Bautista batted .241 with 27 home runs and 65 RBI in 92 games.[6]

2013

On January 21, it was announced that Bautista would once again be the cover athlete of the Canadian edition of MLB 13: The Show.[58] Bautista hit his 200th career home run in a game against the Boston Red Sox on June 29. On July 6, 2013, Bautista was elected to his fourth consecutive All-Star Game as the starting right fielder for the American League. Up to the All-Star Break, Bautista posted a triple-slash of .254/.351/.493 with 20 home runs and 55 RBI. In the All-Star Game, Bautista recorded the game-winning RBI on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, as the American League won 3–0.

In a game against the 1984–1987).[59] His season ended prematurely for the second consecutive time on September 4, when it was announced that he would be shutdown with a left hip bone bruise. Bautista finished 2013 with a .259 batting average, 28 home runs, and 73 RBIs.[60]

2014

Bautista opened the season with streak of 37 games in which he reached base safely. His streak, the longest to open a season in Blue Jays franchise history, came to an end on May 11, when he went 0–4.[61] On June 18, he recorded his 1,000 career hit in a game against the New York Yankees.[62] Bautista was named as the American League Captain for the 2014 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby on June 23.[63] On July 6, it was announced that, for the second time, he had received the highest number of All-Star Game votes in the Majors, with 5,859,019.[64] On August 26, Bautista hit his 25th home run of the season, and in doing so, joined Carlos Delgado and Joe Carter as the only Blue Jays players in franchise history to hit at least 25 in 5 consecutive seasons or more.[65] Four days later, Bautista hit his 100th career home run at Rogers Centre, a 2-run shot off Yankees starter Michael Pineda, and his fourth straight game with a home run which tied a career-high.[66] He would go on to hit a home run on August 31, extending his home run streak to 5 games and establishing a new career-high.[67]

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